ABSTRACT: Chronological history of Yugoslavia taken from the book by Gigi Riva and Marco Ventura "JUGOSLAVIA IL NUOVO MEDIOEVO" (Yugoslavia, the new Middle Ages, translator's note) - MURSIA.

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27 NOVEMBER 1918 - Creation of the "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Sloevenes" under the crown of Peter I, of the Karadjordejvic dynasty.

JANUARY 1929 - Alexander I, who succeeded his father in 1921 as head of the State, proclaims the "Kingdom of Yugoslavia", and installs a dictatorship.

9 OCTOBER 1934 - Alexander I is assassinated in Marseille by a Macedonian citizen close to the ustasha movement of the Croatian nationalist Ante Pavelic. The legitimate heir, Peter, is still a minor, so the regency is assumed by Prince Paul.

27 MARCH 1941 - The Yugoslav government signs the pact with the Axe. Insurrection in Belgrade. Peter II comes to the throne and disavows the pact. The Germans occupy Yugoslavia.

APRIL 1941 - Croatia becomes an "independent State", comprehensive of Bosnia Herzegovina, headed by the poglavnik (commander) Ante Pavelic, with the support of Hitler and Mussolini. The fascist and ultra-Catholic ustasha regime persecutes Serbs and Jews.

29 NOVEMBER 1943 - The "Antifascist Council for the liberation of the Yugoslav people", a nucleus of the communist State and regime, meets in Jaice (Bosnia). It is presided by Tito, who had ordered the anti-Nazi insurrection in July 1941.

20 OCTOBER 1945 - After liberating Belgrade, and occupying Trieste, Zagreb and Ljubljana, the communists win the war. The new assembly proclaims the Republic, with Tito as president, and drafts the Constitution of the popular and federate Republic of Yugoslavia (Second Yugoslavia). The war has claimed 1,7 million victims in the country.

1947 - The Treaty of Paris reinstates the borders of 1919, depriving Italy of Istria. The area around Trieste, divided into area A and area B, is proclaimed "free territory".

28 JUNE 1948 - Division between Tito and Stalin in the Cominform.

1945 - Yugoslavia acknowledges that Trieste belongs to Italy.

MAY 1955 - Kruscev in Belgrade. The relations with the U.S.S.R. are resumed.

JULY 1956 - Tito, Nehru and Nasser meet in the island of Brioni. Together they develop the strategy of "non-alignment".

1971 - A nationalist movement develops in Croatia. Tito clamps down on it. Hundreds of people are arrested. The "Croatian Spring" is stifled.

1974 - The new Constitution is introduced. It lays down that, after Tito, the collegial Presidency of the Federation will by directed in turns, for a period of one year, by the representatives of the six Republics and of the two autonomous provinces.

1977 - The Treaty of Osimo settles the question of the border between Italy and Yugoslavia.

4 MAY 1980 - Tito dies in a clinic in Ljubljana.

SPRING 1981 - The population of Kosovo revolts. 9 people are killed and 250 are wounded during the ensuing repression.

MARCH 1989 - The revolt continues in Kosovo. Belgrade introduces the state of emergency in the province.

JANUARY 1990 - The Slovene and the Croatian delegations abandon the ongoing congress of the League of Yugoslav communists in Belgrade. In practice, it is the end of the body which has been the engine of the Federation.

1990 - The reformist Kucan comes into power in Slovenia after the first free parliamentary elections. In Croatia the nationalist Franjo Tudjman. In Belgrade Slobodan Milosevic. The Serbian Communist Party becomes the Serbian Socialist Party.

22 DECEMBER 1990 - The Slovenes unanimously express themselves in favour od independence in the referendum.

3 MARCH 1991 - The Serbian minority occupies a number of public buildings and gains possession of weapons in Pakrac (Croatia). Armed conflicts with the Croatian territorial militia and intervention of the federal tanks. The civil war is averted by a hair's breadth.

30 MARCH - Barricades in the national park of Plitvice (Croatia). Hundreds of tourists witness violent shootings between Serbs and Croats. The army intervenes to restore order. The authorities of the region, Krajina, populated by Serbs, have decreed the secession from Croatia and the union with Belgrade.

2 MAY - The first massacre in Borovo Selo (Croatia). Twelve police officers are slaughtered by Serbian guerrillas. At least twenty victims among the aggressors.

3 MAY - In Zara the Croatians avenge the massacre of Borovo Selo. Serbian shops are pillaged.

12 MAY - With an overwhelming majority, Krajina decrees its secession from Zagreb with a referendum.

15 MAY - Yugoslavia remains without a federal president. The office is due to the Croatian Stipe Mesic, but the Serbs raise objections.

19 MAY - Referendum for the Croatians: 94% of them votes for the independence of Croatia.

25 JUNE - Slovenia and Croatia declare their independence.

26 JUNE - The federal army intervenes in Slovenia.

27 JUNE - A bloodshed takes place. Ljubljana becomes the theatre of fightings, and a curfew is decided.

1 JULY - Stipe Mesic becomes President thanks to the mediation of the EEC.

2 JULY - General Adzic, federal Chief of Staff, officially declares the state of war.

8 JULY - An agreement is reached in Brioni. Three-month moratorium for independence.

14 JULY - The EEC observers reach Zagreb, where the wind of war blows stronger and stronger.

23 JULY - Tudjman launches an appeal to the nation: "We must brace for total war". On the following day, he requests the intervention of the U.N. blue helmets.

16-20 AUGUST - The war breaks out in the entire territory of Croatia. A helicopter with EEC observers on board is shot down. Battle on the Zagreb-Belgrade highway. It is no longer practicable.

23 AUGUST - Tudjman launches an ultimatum to the Army: if it does not cease supporting the Serbian irregular formation, its presence in Croatia will be considered as an occupation.

10 SEPTEMBER - The conflict reaches the coasts of Dalmatia. Victims and injured in Zara, Sebenico, Split and Dubrovnik.

13 SEPTEMBER - Zara is besieged, fightings take place also in Fiume.

1 OCTOBER - In the absence of Mesic, the Serbian block of the

federal presidency obeys his vice, Branko Kostic. Dubrovnik is besieged.

6 OCTOBER - The Serbs are in Pokupsko, 30 kilometres from Zagreb.

7 OCTOBER - Two federal Migs bomb Tudjman's palace in the heart of the ancient Zagreb.

8 OCTOBER - The moratorium expires, and Slovenia and Croatia proclaim their independence.

2 NOVEMBER - The President of the Italian Republic, Francesco Cossiga, meets the President of Slovenia Kucan in Nova Gorica.

9 NOVEMBER - The federal presidency, reduced by one half, urges the U.N. to send the blue helmets.

17 NOVEMBER - After 91 says of siege and thousands of casualties, Vukovar, the symbol of the Croatian resistance in Slavonia, falls.

27 NOVEMBER - The U.N. Security Council passes Resolution N. 721, authorizing the envoy of a peace-keeping force in Yugoslavia.

5 DECEMBER - Mesic resigns: "Yugoslavia no longer exists".

21 DECEMBER - Istria is bombed for the first time. Two Migs drop bombs on the small airport of Orsera.

25 DECEMBER - Christmas in the shelters. Osijek, the third largest city in Croatia, is besieged and bombed.

29 DECEMBER - Six missiles fall just outside of Zagreb.

7 JANUARY 1992 - A helicopter of the EEC with four Italians and a Frenchman on board is shot down by the federal Migs near Varazdin, at the borders between Croatian, Slovenia and Hungary. On 30 September 1992, the court of Veradzin sentences the pilot of the Mig, Lieutenant Emir Sesic, and the commander of the base, Lieutenant Colonel Dobrivoje Opacic, to 20 years of imprisonment. The two are both free and live in Serbia.

8 JANUARY - Belgrade admits to making a "mistake". Reshuffle in the Army. Slovenes and Croats are eliminated, starting with the federal Minister of Defence, Veljko Kadijevic.

15 JANUARY - Two days later, the Vatican, the Member States of the EEC, and several other States except the United States of America, recognize Slovenia and Croatia.

17 JANUARY - Francesco Cossiga is the first Head of State to visit the newly-recognized Croatia.

27 FEBRUARY - The Serbs proclaim the "Serbian Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina".

29 FEBRUARY and 1 MARCH - Referendum on independence in Bosnia Herzegovina. 64% of the population votes in favour of it. The Serbs boycott the urns and block Sarajevo with barricades. The president of the Republic, Alija Izetbegovic, a Muslim, requests the intervention of the army, which acts as a guarantor. The civil war seems inevitable. The leader of the Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, announces that his men will oppose the independence in every way.

5 MARCH - The U.N. envoy Cyrus Vance meets in Sarajevo the leader of the three components, Croats, Serbs and Muslims.

9 MARCH - In Belgrade the demonstration against Milosevic fails. The oppositions had announced the presence of 1,5 million people in the squares. They manage to gather only 40,000.

10 MARCH - The U.S Secretary of State, James Baker, flies to Brussels for an urgent meeting with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Twelve: "It is the appropriate moment for the EEC and United States to join their policies and exert greater influence".

13 MARCH - The Indian General Satish Nambiar arrives in Sarajevo. He is the commander of the 14,000 blue helmets who will occupy the territories Serbia and Croatia are fighting for by the end of April. He establishes the headquarters in the capital of Bosnia.

6 APRIL - The EEC recognizes Bosnia Herzegovina. The siege on Sarajevo begins, the civil war breaks out in the entire Republic.

7 APRIL - The United States recognizes Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina.

8 APRIL - Izetbegovic declares the state of emergency in the entire Republic.

27 APRIL - The new Yugoslav Federation is proclaimed in Belgrade. In theory it is the third one, but no one acknowledges it as such. It is formed by Serbia and Montenegro.

2 MAY - On his return from Lisbon, the President of Bosnia is blocked at the airport by federal soldiers. He is released on the following day.

8 MAY - New purges are carried out in the federal Army. The Chief of Staff, Adzic, is removed, and replaced by Zivota Panic. A total of 38 people are eliminated, and the last pan-Yugoslavists are set aside. The army is completely in the hands of the pan-Serbs.

14 MAY - It is the worst day for Sarajevo. Uninterrupted bombing. Nambiar is taken hostage by the Serbs for 24 hours. A bullet sticks into Izetbegovic's desk. The EEC, the Red Cross and a few days later the U.N. as well leave the city.

15 MAY - Major escape of women, children and old people from the besieged capital. The caravan with 7,000 people is taken hostage by the Serbs in the neighbourhood of Ilidza. They are released after a two-day negotiation. The problem of the refugees explodes. According to estimates of the U.N. High commissioner for refugees, there are 1,5 million of them in the former Yugoslavia. Italy accepts little more than 1,000, and allots funds to assist the others in their country.

26 MAY - The army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina, at the orders of General Ratko Mladic, launches grenades on the childrens' hospital in Sarajevo. The building takes fire. Seven babies, taken out of the incubator, die in the following days.

27 MAY - Three 82mm. mortar grenades cause a massacre among the people in a queue to buy bread in the central Vaso Miskin street, in Sarajevo. 20 are killed and 150 are wounded.

30 MAY - With the abstention of China and Zimbabwe, the U.S. Security Council passes resolution N. 757, which provides for a total embargo against Serbia and Montenegro, held responsible for the war in Bosnia. In his report, Boutros Ghali also accuses Croatia for the presence of Croatian troops fighting in the burning Republic.

31 MAY - Elections in Belgrade, which are boycotted by the opposition. 60% of those entitled to vote do so. Milosevic obtains 40% of the votes, the Cetnic ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj 30%. The writer Dobrica Cosic, counsellor of Milosevic, becomes president of the federation of Serbia-Montenegro.

APRIL-JUNE - Massacres throughout Bosnia. Over 20 thousand victims. Three times as many victims as in the war in Croatia.

27 JUNE - In Lisbon the EEC proclaims to be ready to "free the airport of Sarajevo with military means". It established that Macedonia has the right to be acknowledged, but must change its name.

28 JUNE - The French President Mitterrand flies to Sarajevo and walks in the centre under the falling bombs. The U.N. Security Council passes Resolution N.761, which provides for the envoy of 850 Canadian soldiers to guarantee the re-opening of the airport.

30 JUNE - The Canadians gain control of the airport. The air lift for the humanitarian aid to the population under siege since three months can start. The U.S. fleet cruises off the coasts of Dalmatia.

10 JULY - At the Helsinki summit, the CSCE decides the envoy in the Adriatic of WEU and NATO warships to enforce the embargo against Belgrade. The immediate arrival of the new premier of the federation of Serbia-Montenegro, the Serbian-Californian millionaire Milan Panic, is useless. He promises democracy, asks to be granted 100 days to stop the war in Bosnia. He cannot avoid the final document from condemning Serbia for the "violence and aggressions" against Bosnia and Croatia, and urge it to put an end to the repression of human rights in Kosovo and Vojvodina.

25 JULY - Inauguration of the XXV Olympic Games in Barcelona. At the recommendation of the U.N., the CIO (Olympic International Committee) bans the participation of the national representatives of Serbia and Montenegro. The athletes from Serbia and Montenegro participate only in the individual competitions, as private citizens, without the hymn and the flag.

AUGUST - The scandal of the concentration camps in Bosnia breaks out. The world is horrified by the pictures of the prisoners in the Serbian camps (but there are also Croatian and Muslim ones=.

2 AUGUST - Elections in Croatia. President Tudjman and the HDZ obtain a major success.

6 AUGUST - The Pope upholds the "right-duty to humanitarian interference on the part of the European states and of the United Nations in Bosnia Herzegovina to disarm those who want to kill. This does not mean encouraging the war, but preventing it". The appeal is made public by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of State of the Holy See.

13 AUGUST - The U.N. Security Council passes two resolutions on the crisis in the Balkans. The first one to authorize "every measure", including the use of military force, to guarantee the supply of food and medicine to the besieged city of Bosnia Herzegovina. The second orders inspections in the Serbian prisoner camps. Among the juridical innovations, the commitment to include "ethnic cleansing" in the list of war crimes.

25-27 AUGUST - Peace conference on Yugoslavia in London. The international community accuses Serbia and the leader of the Serbs of Bosnia, Karadzic, who promises to close the camps and to hand the heavy artillery to the blue helmets. The promise is not kept. The only result is the creation of a permanent forum in Geneva, co-presided by Cyrus Vance (U.N.) and by Lord David Owen (successor of the outgoing Lord Carrington) for the EEC.

3 SEPTEMBER - An Italian G-222 military aircraft flying from Split to Sarajevo with a load of covers and other humanitarian aid is shot down by two Stinger surface-to-air missiles. The four members of the crew die. Having carried out an investigation, the Italian Ministry of Defence hands in a report in Geneva on 26 September, which fuels the suspicions toward the Croatians and the Muslims.

11 SEPTEMBER - The Serbian veto prevents the destination of Italian blue helmets to the front line in Bosnia Herzegovina. 1,200 Italian soldiers will simply carry out a function of logistic support.

15 SEPTEMBER - The U.N. Security Council decides, through Resolution N. 776, the envoy of 6 thousand additional blue helmets to Sarajevo.

22 SEPTEMBER - The General Assembly of the United Nations votes for the expulsion of Yugoslavia. It is an unprecedented measure. If it wants to be part of the U.N., the federation of Serbia-Montenegro will need to apply. Yugoslavia no longer exists in the eyes of the world.